"The tradition of Italian cooking is that of the matriarch. This is the cooking of grandma. She didn't waste time thinking too much about the celery. She got the best celery she could and then she dealt with it."--Mario Batali

Peppermint Semifreddo Recipe

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This recipe for Peppermint Semifreddo, by Carol Scherner, is from THE BYER FAMILY COOKBOOK ,
one of the cookbooks created at FamilyCookbookProject.com. We help
families or individuals create heirloom cookbook treasures.

Directions:

Directions:

Put the candies in a paper or plastic bay and crush them into little chunks (not dust) with a rolling pen. Set aside.

Whip the cream until soft, floppy peaks form (they should be lazy peaks, not perky). Place the whipped cream in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.

Prepare an ice bath by filling an extra-large bowl with water and ice cubes. Set aside.

Set a large heatproof bowl over a pan of simmering water. Moving quickly, add egg yolks and 1/4 c. of the sugar, and whisk until the mixture starts to pale, 30 seconds or so. Add the peppermint liquor and whisk like you've never whisked before, until the mixture starts to thicken (30 seconds to 2 minutes depending on the heat). Move the bowl from the stove and set in the ice bath. Whisk again until it is cool to the touch. Keep the pot of water simmering.

Take another heatproof bowl (you can use the one from your electric mixer if you've got one) and set it over the simmering water, whisk the egg whites and the remainingh 1/4 c. sugar. Start whisking, you want the sugar to dissolve and the egg whites to warm up a touch - the heat makes it easier to whip them. After a minute or so remove them from the heat and whisk the whites until they have glossy peaks - four or five minutes. They should be structured and stiff.

Gently fold the egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. Pull the whipped cream from the refrigerator and add half the peppermint candies, folding in with as few strokes as possible. If you stir too much at this point the candies will turn everything pink.

Spoon mixture into serving glasses. Sprinkle with remainingh peppermint candies and place in freezer until semi-firm, an hour or so.

Number Of
Servings:

Number Of
Servings:

12 - 24 depending on size of glasses

Personal
Notes:

Personal
Notes:

This is especially nice around Christmas. It is very rich, so I like to serve it in pretty little shot glasses with whipped cream on top.

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